Drummer John Dolmayan on Making a New System of a Down Album: “I’m Not Even Sure I Wanna Do It Anymore”
System of a Down drummer and coronavirus conspiracy theorist John Dolmayan has once again addressed the never-ending issue as to when or even if SOAD will make another album, and the long and short of it is, he’s allegedly ready to pack up his kit and go home.
Asked by the Let There Be Talk podcast if he thought System of a Down would ever finally put aside their differences and record new music, Dolmayan replied:
“I find it very unlikely. I’m not even sure I wanna do it anymore. It’s just so much drama and bullshit. In a lot of ways, I’m just over it. ‘Cause I fought really hard to get us to make an album over the course of the last 15 years. More than anybody else, I was calling people, ‘Let’s get together. Put the egos aside. Let’s have meetings. Whatever it takes. Let’s get in the studio. Let’s just get in the studio and see what happens.’ I just couldn’t get it done. I failed.”
Which I’m guessing is B.S. If everyone else in the band called him this afternoon and said “Hey, we’re ready, let’s do this,” I’m guessing Dolmayan would get his ass to the studio promptly. But I certainly understand his frustration — I’m sick of people asking about the new SOAD album, and I’m not even in the band.
Later in the interview, Dolmayan also responded to the popular theory that frontman Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian’s inability to see eye-to-eye on the band’s direction is the primary reason the band hasn’t released a new album since 2005’s Mezmerize/ Hypnotize set:
“It’s not just Daron and Serj. It takes four people to make this band, and it takes four people to unmake it. I think that we’re all to blame. I could just blame Daron and Serj, because, quite frankly, they’re the primary songwriters, so it’s easy to blame them. But it’s not just their fault. A lot of it is their fault, but it’s not just their fault.”
That’s certainly big of Dolmayan. I’d be curious to know how he feels bassist Shavo Odadjian and himself have contributed to the lack of progress. Maybe they sided too strongly with either Malakian or Tankian?
You can listen to the entire interview below:
[via]
